Doing Time, Oatlands Gaol Residency

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An exhibition of paintings that explores our relationship with time and history through the buildings we inhabit, preserve or abandon. A 2017 Glover Prize finalist, the contemporary realist Henrietta Manning, has been working in the Tasmanian Southern Midlands since September 2015 through the Oatlands Gaol Artist in Residence Program.Painted from inside historical buildings, empty interiors that are atmospheric time capsules contrast with the often vibrant very personal interiors of private homes, while long thin landscapes give a sense of place within the broader landscape.

Oatlands is a country town with a large number of Colonial and Georgian buildings seeped in colonial history and the settlement of Van Diemen’s Land. Living at its very heart, with her Residency digs the gaoler’s room in the 1836Gaoler’s Residence , Henrietta worked from life initially inside buildings in the care of Southern Midlands Council , such as The Supreme Law Court [1829], Gaol [1835], Commissariat Store [1828] and Callington Mill [1837]. Later locals provided the opportunity to paint inside their historic homes both in Oatlands and beyond, and her subject matter extended to include the outlying country side and towns.

The location and experience available through the Residency has enabled Henrietta to build on the past series of work,‘In Face of Isolation’ 2005, that explored communities that choose to live in challenging locations, and further pursue her interest in how our sense of identity is inexorably linked with our homes , ‘Nesting Series’ 2016. ‘Doing Time’ continues to explore how today’s lives build upon and co exist with the past.

An established award winning artist exhibiting since 1985, Henrietta is represented by Colville Gallery, Hobart. A concurrent exhibition of Henrietta’s work is being held at Colville Gallery from Friday 5 – Wednesday 24 May 2017.